Alfa Romeo Spider 3.7L 24V V6 Build

[street]

Ram-Air Cove Canards

With the new re-angled diffuser slates out back on the block soon, I felt that this line should be brought up front as well.

Now, as functional as the front ram-air coves are, that area was a little drab and needed some punching up. Enter the front canards/ram air deflectors - diffuser slate inspired.



A quick mock-up proved to give me the form and function I was after. With slightly angled for an aggressive look, the slates played off the curvature of the main panel very well.



Mind the fitment of the fangs/canards in these shots. They're just mocked and moved a bit due to the many times the bumper was on and off during the adjustments for spec.



Up close.



Sorry for the poor picture quality. It was quite late when I wrapped.



street

[street]

Pic Remedy.

As a side note, I'm still receiving messages informing me that some members can't see the pics. So I'll be opening up a Flickr account to combat this.

street

[street]

Tech Details.

I was short on time today, so I decided to complete some technical detail stuff in the order of heat shields. But not just any ol' pieces of metal. Nope. I wanted pure overkill on these pieces so radiant heat stands no chance in frying key components.

My headers are already ceramic coated. But I won't rely on that as coating can and do flake off. Just like the plenums receiving the gold heat reflecting foil and thermal heat paint, so will the heat shields.

First was the passenger side header's shield. Facing the headers, was the special gold foil.



On the reverse, the thermal heat paint. Simple port brackets held them in place and that was that.



The driver's side was a bit more involved. This side required two separate shields - headers, steering box and masters.

Steering box/Masters shield.



Inside the driver's side shield.



Both shields in place. Notice the gap that I left on the front side.



Just enough room to get a couple fingers in there to retrieve the dip stick and see the tube.



To summarize, here are all the layers.

Headers are black ceramic coated. But they still emit heat. Therefore, the shields were added with gold foil and heat suppressing thermal paint. Then on top of that the plenums and trumpets received the same level of protection - gold foil and thermal paint. Bottom line, protect susceptible components from heat damage and radiant heat while keeping the intake charge as cold as possible from the fenders to ITB's.

Then came the air intake temp sensor for the Go-Tech EMS stand-alone into the driver's side tubing.



street

[street]

Reply.

My first car was a black 84' alfa spider with the 2000cc motor. This is really awesome to see someone building it correctly. I was probably one of the first people to even put decent offset wheels on one. I had the 17x9 and 17x10 4 lug cobra wheels.

Thanks ienjoydrifting! But I don't know about being the first to put a cool set of rims on a Spider. My dad was a mechanic for Alfa in the early 70's and he was notorious on modding these. He drilled a few sets in his day and was never happy with them being stock. Like father. Like son!

street

[ienjoydrifting]

My first car was a black 84' alfa spider with the 2000cc motor. This is really awesome to see someone building it correctly. I was probably one of the first people to even put decent offset wheels on one. I had the 17x9 and 17x10 4 lug cobra wheels.

[fromthelbc]

sorry, i had to put this up, the insert in the air dam reminds me of this..

[street]

Spider Details.

I believe in exhausting every possible combination/concept that "works" to find the absolute best scenario. Last night as I went over the latest pics, I made a list of all the concepts that worked and the ones that didn't hold up past 12 hours. Then I realized that I missed one.

What has not held up:

Wide fangs
Sharp sweep
Curved ends
Slotted fangs
Flat panel across
Drilled panel
Medium sized fangs
Rounded off fang ends
Fangs into rad tunnel
Fangs set at rear of bumper opening

What has worked:

slimming fangs to it's absolute minimum
moving them forward
Adapting a better replicated flow sweep of the inner bumper
Edge of fang remaining sharp

So with that, I combined the later list to see it in action.

But first up, I wrapped the ram-air coves in gloss black to make them disappear. Then proceeded to mock in place the above list in red to give it more visual punch. Red worked well for me last time I used it and I was hoping for a repeat. It's in and as I stepped back and crouched down my my cam for checks, this is what I saw!!



Then a little closer.



Then I moved in close to a standing position..



Then crouched down from that point.



More small detail pieces still have to be fabricated. But they're not major - heart slates, 2 blocking plates for bumper supports, small vinyl on main panel and possible emblem.
But I think it's pretty safe to say, I'm satisfied with this concept. It took quite a bit of figuring out. But like everything else on the car, it never gets solved all in one go.

Thomas Edison said it best, "Discontent is the first necessity of progress."

street

[street]

Replys.

Looking good street.

I really like the new upswept fangs. The slimmed down / cut fangs didn't really work for me, and obviously you either!

Keep it up.

Thanks Bro! But I'm still not satisfied. I missed a combination of a tweak and implemented it today.

street

wow great work!!

Thanks mateo!

street

Man this is epic. Only thing about the fangs is they look a little happy now Everything is tip top though and it looks so low I love it

Thanks Anonymoose! Like I mentioned to PMcD, I ain't done yet!

street

def keep following this with my dad
he married in a black spider 15 years ago
from that day he keeps nagging about starting a project like this
but since we have 7 cars there's no more room in our garage

Thanks tarik! I debated this build against an 89 Porsche 930 turbo in the beginning and went with the Alfa because I knew I'd never run into another even close to it. However, maintaining that focus now 4years later, has proved to be the biggest challenge. I say, go for it! You'll both learn a lot.

street

[tarik]

def keep following this with my dad
he married in a black spider 15 years ago
from that day he keeps nagging about starting a project like this
but since we have 7 cars there's no more room in our garage

[Anonymoose]

Man this is epic. Only thing about the fangs is they look a little happy now Everything is tip top though and it looks so low I love it

[mateo m3]

wow great work!!

[PMcD]

Looking good street.

I really like the new upswept fangs. The slimmed down / cut fangs didn't really work for me, and obviously you either!

Keep it up.

[street]

Front Tweaks.

Continuing to format the front bumper internals. More specifically, the fangs. Sometimes I come up with a concept and by morning, I **** it. Not the case here, but I know it can be much stronger. That being said, I got to work and dialed it in a bit more.

Result:

I went back to a solid fang, slimmed them down, moved them forward and curved the medial ends to replicate the main curved panel. Sweep in - sweep out. Giving them the illusion of going up at the ends. It's more aggressive, elegant and functional.



Standing view to check the lines with the fang's tips and heart surround mock in place. This will also get CNC'd once ready.



3/4 view to check appearing and disappearing line checks.



street

[street]

Reply.

It has to to be the Arizona Iced Tea
The amount of detail in the front section alone is staggering. Nice work street.

Thanks renngolf! it's ALL about the Arizona Green Tea with Honey and Ginseng!!! I'm not done with the front end. It's good. But it's not great. Yet.

street

[renngolf]

It has to to be the Arizona Iced Tea
The amount of detail in the front section alone is staggering. Nice work street.